A Connecticut judge affirmed last week a state Department of Motor Vehicle's ruling that Tesla was essentially selling cars out of its Greenwich gallery and needed a license to do so. (Christophe Ena / AP)

A Superior Court judge has ruled that Tesla was engaging in illegal sales out of its Greenwich gallery in another local setback for the California electric car maker.

In the judgment last week, Judge Joseph M. Shortall wrote: “If Tesla was not engaged in the business of selling motor vehicles at the gallery, it’s difficult to see what it was engaged in at that location.”

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The ruling comes after a Department of Motor Vehicle’s hearing officer concluded in the spring of 2017 that Tesla’s activity at the gallery on Greenwich Avenue required a license under state statute, records show.

The hearing officer initially stopped all business at the facility until the company got a car dealer license, but revised his ruling, putting a hold on all enforcement until the ruling could be appealed.

Tesla has been aggressively pushing for new legislation in Connecticut that would allow the automaker to sell directly to consumers. Currently, state law does not allow manufacturers to hold new car dealer licenses, effectively requiring third-party sellers.

The company said it opened the Greenwich gallery as a location to educate Connecticut residents about its electric cars.

“Tesla disagrees with the judge’s decision, and we stand by our mission to educate the public and raise awareness about the benefits of EVs because getting more EVs on the road is the right thing to do for the environment and for the battle against climate change,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.

In its suit asking a judge to vacate the DMV ruling, Tesla said employees at its gallery could not take orders for car, process purchase transactions, accept payment or even discuss financing and leasing options with visitors.

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Tesla’s lawyers also wrote that the company barred people from placing orders online within the gallery.

In his ruling, which was entered on Dec. 6, Shortall noted that gallery employees were given bonuses and commission for “building a robust pipeline of leads and converting them into Model S owners,” records show. An employee testified that this practice was discontinued, records show.

The gallery featured vehicles for inspection and test drive, and that people were guided through the online process of customizing cars and making accounts to save the cars from the computers in the gallery, records show.

“Because Tesla engages in the business of selling motor vehicles and offering them for sale at the gallery without required license to do so, its activities there are illegal,” Shortall wrote.

Shortall’s judgment upholds the ruling of the DMV hearing officer, but the department’s stay on enforcement continues pending the filing of an appear or the expiration of the appeal period, records show.